Wild Lectionary: When the Spirit Sends You Into the Wilderness

On March 2, 2017March 1, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

(During Lent, we are journeying daily with King’s Beyond Vietnam. However, we will also continue to post the Wild Lectionary series on Thursdays)

First Sunday in Lent

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. -Matthew 4:1-2

By Victoria Loorz

You don’t need to read the surveys to know that most people experience a sense of connection with the earth when they spend time in wilderness, but data does confirm it. A recent(ish) survey by Pew showed that six-in-ten adults in the general public (58%) say they often feel a “deep connection with nature and the earth,” with unaffiliated persons about as likely as Christians to agree (58% and 59%, respectively). Pew Research Center survey, June 28-July 9 2012. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: When the Spirit Sends You Into the Wilderness” →

Always on the Verge of Being Mesmerized by Uncertainty

On March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

Today, we begin our Lenten journey together, daily meditating on the words of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will be discussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. I also want to say that I consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, and Rabbi Heschel, some of the most distinguished leaders and personalities of our nation. And of course it’s always good to come back to Riverside Church. Over the last eight years, I have had the privilege of preaching here almost every year in that period, and it’s always a rich and rewarding experience to come to this great church and this great pulpit.

I come to this great magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization that brought us together, Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam. The recent statements of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart, and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.
—————————
Highlights from Rose Berger’s April 2007 Sojourners Magazine interview with Vincent Harding (photo above: Rose with “Uncle Vincent”), the author of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech:

The Riverside speech (variously called “Beyond Vietnam” or “Breaking the Silence”) named the sickness eating the American soul as “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.” It was a watershed moment. Continue reading “Always on the Verge of Being Mesmerized by Uncertainty” →

Sermon: On Not Taking Up Crosses

On February 28, 2017February 28, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Uncategorized2 Comments

Rev. Rebecca Stelle, Church of the Covenant, Lynchburg, VA
Sunday February 26, 2017
Matthew 17:1-9

I adored Gordon, my spiritual teacher and mentor, and I would have willingly followed him up a mountain. But if instead of saying, “Becca, we are going to be developing new forms of church life through which the Spirit can end poverty,” Gordon had said, “Becca, I will be arrested, suffer torture, die at the hands of church leadership and then rise again on the third day,” I can’t imagine what my reaction would have been. Without a context for that kind of comment, my adoration would not have translated to comprehension, and certainly not to collaboration. I’m glad he didn’t say it. Continue reading “Sermon: On Not Taking Up Crosses” →

Sanctuary: To Stand and Suffer With

On February 26, 2017February 28, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, Race, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

An excerpt from the recent Christian Century interview with Alexia Salvatierra:

We sense that there are a lot of churches that can’t participate in the sanctuary movement because it is more radical than they are willing to be, including immigrant churches. We are creating something called the Matthew 25 Movement. It consists of individuals and congregations that pledge to protect and defend the vulnerable in the name of Jesus. This can mean a variety of things. There are churches that will pray and educate and give money. Others will participate in the creation of safe zones… Continue reading “Sanctuary: To Stand and Suffer With” →

A Mass Movement

On February 25, 2017February 10, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

An excerpt from Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s “How to Build a Mass Movement,” originally posted at SocialistWorker.org. Dr. Taylor is an assistant professor in Princeton University’s Center for African American Studies and the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.

The issue for the Left is how we get from where we are today to where we want to be in terms of making our marches blacker, browner, and more working class. Simply complaining about it changes nothing.

There will no effective movement against Trump that doesn’t directly confront the issue of racism. It has to be front and center, and it seemed to me that the march organizers took that question seriously and made genuine efforts to shift shortcomings in their original approach. Continue reading “A Mass Movement” →

Small Acts of Resistance

On February 24, 2017February 16, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Uncategorized1 Comment

By Vickie Machado

Resistance seems to be at the forefront of political action these days. Marches and protests manifest feelings that have been rising for some time now. As a former organizer, I appreciate this energy, passion and drive. However, often times I have been asked (usually by those opposed to such forms of nonviolent resistance): “Why? What good does this do? What is the outcome?”

Again, thinking like an organizer, I want to say: I understand your perspective. Some of these larger protests lack an “ask” or a particular direction. Normally representatives would be called, letters written, and petitions delivered. From a media standpoint, not every protest will make the news—especially peaceful gatherings and vigils— again displaying a sense of failure. They are a whisper in wind. Without a tangible outcome, where does this leave us? Continue reading “Small Acts of Resistance” →

Wild Lectionary: A Way Without Fear

On February 23, 2017February 12, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

Victoria Marie (blue) at the Break Free from Fossil Fuels action at the Burnaby Mountain, Kinder Morgan tank facility.

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(many churches observe the Transfiguration this Sunday)

Isaiah 49:8-16
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6: 24-34

By Reverend Dr. Victoria Marie

Today I’m just going to touch on a few points in the Gospel reading in the hopes that they stimulate more thoughts and questions for all of us. To set the stage, look at the unrestrained resource extraction, our addiction to fossil fuels, and the consumerism that threatens to consume us and the earth. Yet, we all have to earn a living and unfortunately, some people have no other choice but to work for industries and systems that are killing us. We have been drafted into a system where we are trying to serve God but are enslaved by wealth; quite a dilemma! Upton Sinclair wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: A Way Without Fear” →

Not Always Black & White

On February 22, 2017February 17, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, RaceLeave a comment

By Lynn Hur, originally published in The Mennonite and on the ReconciliAsian blog

The classroom is silent, apart from the ticking of the clock and the shifting of a chair. My English teacher looks at us pensively as my classmates awkwardly look around, waiting for someone to speak up. We had been beginning to read To Kill a Mockingbird, and the inevitable subject of race had been brought up again. My friend tells the teacher that she cried watching the assigned documentary following the Scottsboro Trials, and how she couldn’t believe the injustice of it all. Heads nod in agreement. I respond, commenting that this isn’t just something that happened, but is happening today as well. My teacher nods once again, agreeing. I try to continue, but get cut off. “Moving on,” he says. “You guys can talk more about that in a history class. We don’t have time to get too deep into the details.” Continue reading “Not Always Black & White” →

Save the Date: Beyond Vietnam as a Lenten Devotional on RadicalDiscipleship

On February 21, 2017February 13, 2017 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, Race, Identity, and History, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Beloved Community,

RadicalDiscipleship invites you to journey with us through the 40 days of Lent by reading and reflecting daily on Martin Luther’s King’s “Beyond Vietnam.”

March 1-April 16 Continue reading “Save the Date: Beyond Vietnam as a Lenten Devotional on RadicalDiscipleship” →